


Barracuda

by graferacer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Hydra (Marvel), M/M, Non-binary character, Original Character(s), Other, Road Trips, The Tesseract (Marvel), a lot of these relationships are just mentions, idk a lot about marvel science, non-binary original character - Freeform, take it with a grain of salt lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:53:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29565705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graferacer/pseuds/graferacer
Summary: Barry was a lab rat, an experiment, a prisoner. A human being fused with the Tesseract, a device powered by an Infinity Stone and capable of opening portals in the fabric of space and reality. When Barry is rescued by a rag tag team of former Avengers, they embark on a journey of self-acceptance, friendship, and epic road trips. So much of their life has been misery and pain. Isn't it enough to adopt a spider-person, befriend an ex-assassin, and mess up the space time continuum with a pissy wizard doctor, a hot witch, and an annoying fallen Norse god?
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, Loki (Marvel)/Original Character(s), Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Kudos: 1





	1. So This Ain't The End

Barry wakes up. Red lights and sirens blaring. A man’s voice, Dr. Meek. “Evacuate the facility now. Intruder alert. Evacuate the facility now. Avengers on premises.” Barry groans and peels themself off of the floor, their cerulean blue blood sticking their skin and hair to the cold marble floor. Their eyes feel swollen. Their ears are ringing. Same shit, different day.

Dr. Meeks’s voice keeps repeating the message, the sirens keep blaring, and Barry covers their ears, wondering if this is another training exercise, a nightmare, or something else. Whatever it is, it can’t be good. 

Close your eyes. Count to ten. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Tap-tap-tap. Barry opens their eyes, and almost laughs. Someone is standing outside of the glass containment unit they call home. Someone dressed in a pretty stupid looking skintight suit, red and blue, with spiderwebs all over. The person sees Barry looking back and waves, seemingly oblivious to the chaos erupting all around. Maybe this is the one of the Avengers Dr. Meek was talking about. They know that the Avengers are important, somehow, but the information is just out of reach no matter how hard they stretch. So, they focus on what they can do. Barry gets up, every muscle screaming in exhaustion, and limps over to the glass wall. 

The two of them stare at each other, this spider-person and the bloody mess of a human being. The spider-person raises one gloved hand against the glass and Barry presses one bloody one against it. 

“Are you here to get me out,” they ask, hopeful and terrified all at once.

A voice much younger than they expected comes from the mask, “Well, no, we’re here because there’s a really high radiation reading coming from this facility, and then we   
got here and we found out it’s a HYDRA facility, so now we’re trying to shut it down and...are you okay? You don’t look okay. Okay, you’re not okay. Do you want to come with me?”

Barry’s head swims as the spider-person’s words atack their ears mercilessly. Between their incessant rambling and the chaos of the facility, it’s a wonder their body hasn’t completely shut down. They’re drifting off, they can tell. All right, pull it together Barry. Say yes. Get the fuck out of here.

“Yes...please.”

“All right, stand back!”

Barry crouches in the furthest corner of the room as their savior hacks punches a bunch of buttons on the outside of the container. Honestly, they have no idea what’s happening but hey. Can’t complain. At least they’re not being poked and prodded and dissected. 

EEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRR. And like that the doors upon and Barry stumbles heavily into Spider-Person’s arms. Their legs don’t work. Nothing works. They’re going to die. They wish they would just die.

“I’m Peter. But you can’t tell anyone that, because it’s my real name not my superhero name, and honestly you’ll probably forget it, you seem pretty out of it.”

“What’s...what’s your superhero name?”

The two of them take off down the corridor, every crack, the texture, the color so achingly familiar to Barry and yet it’s all gone, gone, gone, and the world is a blur and there is only Peter next to them, taking them away. 

“Spider-Man! I’ve got… spider powers?”

“Spider powers.”

“...yeah. It’s a long story and I promise I’ll tell you all about it when we get out of here. Wait, what’s your name?”

Before Barry can answer the two of them nearly collide with a man. He’s standing at the end of the hall just outside the doors leading to the outer rim of the facility. Hands on hips, one flesh, one metal. Short, brown hair. Tan. 5’ o'clock shadow. Scowling. Worried. And then he sees Barry, and his face changes in a million different ways. Faces confuse Barry, and their concussed, drug addled brain completely gives up on trying to figure out what the hell is happening for the umpteenth time.  
“Peter, who the hell is that?”

“I was just about to find out Mr. Barnes, but-”

“Never mind. Peter, we can’t take them with us, we have no idea who or what they are.”  
“But they’re hurt! Hydra was experimenting on them, and look at them, they’re-”

“Peter, no.”

Something snaps into place. Blue flashes behind Barry’s eyes and they snatch onto a scrap of a memory, from before the testing, the pain, the bloody days and nights.   
A man, strapped to a chair. A metal arm. Long, sweaty brown hair. Bearded. Screaming. After the screaming stops, and the men in suits leave. Barry darts over, small enough to go undetected. They reach out a trembling hand and put it on the man’s cheek. He stares at them, eyes blank and unknowing and full of tears. A sound from the corridor, and Barry darts away. They know later that that man is dangerous, the Winter Soldier, Hydra’s right hand. But they were never afraid. Barry knew that the man was far more afraid than they would ever be.

“I remember you.”

The Winter Soldier, Barnes, blinks at them in confusion. Barry stumbles out of Peter’s grasp and latches onto Barnes’s shoulder, ragged fingernails digging into the leather material of his tactical jacket. With the other hand, they reach out and place it on his cheek.

“You were crying.”

Recognition dawns in the man’s eyes, and the two stand there, broken, injured in two different but altogether similar ways. Barnes lifts Barry off of the ground, and without a word enters the outer rim of the facility, Peter following close behind. “Wait, what just happened? What just happened?”

Two Hydra officers come from beyond the corner, guns raised.

“Don’t hurt the asset!”

But before they can fire, a blur comes from behind them and knocks them out cold. The blur pings off of the walls like a pinball machine before coming to rest in the hand of a smirking guy. Dark skin, close cropped black hair, smiling eyes, red, white and blue shield. He gives Barry a quick glance before ushering them further down the hall. Barry is glad as hell that these jokers seem to know here they’re going, because they’ve never been more lost. Again, maybe it’s the blood loss, drugs, or sheer pain their body is in, but Barry feels like they’re floating 10 feet high, happy as a clam and as empty headed as on, too.   
“Sam, aren’t you gonna ask?”

“What, about the bloody pulp of a person you’re carrying princess style through a Hydra facility? Hasn’t crossed my mind.”

“Hey, kid, what’s your name?”

Barry opens their mouth to answer for the second time, but then the lights cut off. The sirens stop, the announcements stop, and all that’s left is the sound of everyone breathing in the dark. No one seems to know what to say, so Barry clears their throat.

“It’s dark.”

Barnes lets out a snort of laughter before the lights at the end of their hallway cut on. Standing underneath the fluorescent glow is Dr. Meeks and a team of about forty Hydra agents, guns cocked and pointed straight towards the merry band of misfits. Dr. Meeks smiles, and stretches his arms wide. His long, white hair looks yellow under the harsh light and his teeth look sharp, animalistic. Barry flinches at his smile, and Barnes holds them a little tighter.

“Well, well, well. It appears to be what’s left of the Avengers. And Barry. Poor, poor, Barry. Were you trying to escape again?”

Barry shakes their head and tries to burrow even deeper into Barnes’s arms. Peter comes up from behind them and puts a trembling hand on their head. Sam steps out ahead of the all, shield raised and staring down the agents. 

“They’re coming with us. Now, I’m only gonna ask you once. Tell us where the weapon is, and let us leave in peace. We might just leave this place standing.”

“The weapon? Ahhhh, yes, the weapon radiating the high levels of radiation that attracted your unwanted attention. Why, Captain, your teammate is holding it in his arms.”

They all turn to look at Barry, confusion written plainly on their faces. Barry can’t stand to meet their eyes, the shame making their cheeks turn red and the skin along their spine itch. 

“Come back to me, Barry, and I’ll let these people live. They’ll never understand you like I do. Come to me.”

Almost unconsciously, Barry pushes themselves out of Barnes’s arms and stumbles down the hall. In some corner of their mind a smarter, braver Barry is screaming at the top of their lungs to turn back goddammit, turn back! But their feet trudge and trudge down the seemingly endless hallway. They walk for what feels like years until they hear Barnes’s voice from behind them.

“You’re not his, Barry. You never were. You don’t have to go with him.”

Peter’s voice chimes in, “You can come home with us, Barry,”

“You can do it, kid,” Sam says. “You can be more.”

Barry stops in their tracks swaying. They’re almost in reach of Dr. Meeks, his sallow hands reaching for their shoulders. In all of the years they’ve been alive, they’ve never heard their name said by a friend. They’ve never had a friend. Rage and sorrow boils in Barry’s stomach as they look into Dr. Meeks’s yellow eyes. Joy soars in their chest when they see the fear in his eyes. 

The itch along their spine grows into a fire, and the 26 wounds on their back reopen as black and blue tinged spikes push through. They howl in ecstatic pain as their bones rearrange, their legs and arms elongating, their fingers sprouting bloody claws. Barry smiles, and their jaw opens, and opens, and opens, their new razor sharp teeth ripping through their gums. A second pair of eyes wink into existence and fix Dr. Meeks with an inky, black stare. 

“Barry! Barry, Barry, you don’t-you don’t have to do this! Just calm down, there, there-”

But a different part of Barry is at the helm now. Barry dreams as the monster rips out Dr. Meeks's throat. They dream of clouds and stars as the monster rips through space, blue electricity sparking through the air as they tear through the Hydra officers. Barry wakes when the pain starts again, when the spikes disappear, and their bones pop back into human shape. They stand for a moment, staring at Sam, Barnes, and Peter, who look back at them with what can best be described as shock.   
There’s a lot of blood. Too much blood, red and blue, monster and human. But Barry feels a lightness in their chest they haven’t felt since their were a child, and as their world fades to black they feel a smile twist their lips as they say, “I’m Barry. Nice to meet you guys.”


	2. Rough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sitting on my hands, I worry how I seem  
> To you, do I seem stuck inside a dream?  
> Inside a broken, hallowed-out machine  
> I want to be something you’d pay to see  
> -Rough by VIALanda

H.Y.D.R.A. ASSET FILE  
NAME: BARRY  
AGE: 25  
ASSET NUMBER: BA-27/X  
STATUS: ACTIVE (MISSING)  
RESTRICTED ACCESS: LEVEL 8

ASSET DOSSIER  
Asset BA-27/X, otherwise known as “Barry”, was born in Washington to Agents Ninon and Garth McKiernan. At the age of five,   
Barry was volunteered for H.Y.D.R.A. 's meta-human program, testing to see if their genetic material was compatible with extra-  
dimensional energy. Namely, a preserved portion of the Tesseract’s power running in a half-life loop in a secured containment   
unit. Barry was among twenty-four other children volunteered for testing, and by the age of fifteen, they were the only one left   
standing.

Dr. Meeks oversaw the process of fusing Barry’s genetic material with that of the Tesseract’s. The fusion was successful. Barry   
could successfully bend the physical dimensions of space and reality to transport themself seemingly wherever. A shock collar of   
sorts soon had to be implemented, as they attempted to teleport outside of the NP33*-POL facility multiple times.   
However, each time the asset would use their powers, their body underwent a transformation that could only be described as  
“monstrous”. The process is extremely painful to the asset, and has quickly deteriorated their physical and mental health. The   
asset rarely speaks, and has shown incredibly violent tendencies. They have no love for H.Y.D.R.A. Treat with caution. 

Pain is the first thing Barry is aware of. A low, dull roar in their bones, pushing them into the soft surface of the cot they’re on. They groan, pushing himself up on one bandaged arm and shield their eyes against the antiseptic brightness of the room. Their hospital gown rubs against a plethora of wounds in all sorts of terrible and painful ways. 

“God, I better be dead.”

As their eyes adjust, Barry sees that they’re in a simple, perfectly blank room. Nothing on the walls, no extraneous furniture, just the cot that they’re lying in and the I.V. they’re hooked up to. They tear out the needle without a thought and swing their legs down to the floor. The tiled floor is so, so cold on their feet, and the shock of it brings back a flood of memories.

“Oh, shit.”

The weird spider-guy, Peter. Barnes, Sam, Dr. Meeks….who was dead. Barry looks down at their hands, covered knuckle to fingertip in bandages. They killed Dr. Meeks, they know they did. A laugh bubbles in their chest but they crush it. Not exactly the most appropriate response to realizing you murdered someone. Did they even really do it, though? After they changed there’s just...this deep blue silence. Peaceful. Like what the ocean must be. And then, boom, back to reality, covered in blood and surrounded by dead bodies. They would feel bad, actually terrible...if they could remember it.

“No sense dwelling on it. Move, Barry.” And pray the door is unlocked.

Their aching legs drag them to the door, and miracle of all miracles, it’s unlocked. They open the door and the first thing they see is an open door right across from them in a brightly and cheerily lit circular room. The room is a perfect circle, with couches and a T.V. in the very middle of it. There are a total of six doors, two of which are open. One is the one right across from Barry’s room, and looks like a bathroom. The other one is on the far side of the couches and looks like it leads to a larger part of whatever building they’re in. 

“Well, shit. This is a predicament. Freedom? Or shower?”

Barry turns the water as far hot as it can get and sits down in the frankly cavernous shower, just letting the stream beat down on their back. Head between their legs, blood and other fun substances circling the drain. Altogether the best fucking shower they’ve ever had. But they can’t help the faint sense of panic and paranoia that creeps into the back of their head. 

It’s clear those three dudes came to the facility looking for the source of radiation, although all three seemed surprised to find out that it was actually Barry that was emitting the radiation. Which begs the question...what do they want with Barry. Are they going to run tests? Treat them like a lab rat, just like H.Y.D.R.A.? They sigh, their breath floating in a cloud in the steam of the shower. Well, there was only one way to find out. There’s a plain, grey bathrobe hanging on the back of the bathroom door, and as they shrug it on over their hospital gown, Barry catches a glimpse of themself in the mirror. 

The mirror is completely fogged up, rendering Barry a blur, unknowable, undecipherable. They take their sleeve and wipe a wide sheath across the surface. It’s been years since they’ve looked in a mirror.

In the mirror is someone who looks like they’ve been through the fucking wringer. God, when did they get so old? Their black hair, slicked down around their face, bangs hanging over dark eyes. Cuts and scratches that adorn their face and body like constellations connecting the light brown freckles that adorn their skin. The scars, self inflicted claw marks on their abdomen, surgical scars on their chest. Mostly, Barry just sees that this person, this fucking complete stranger, looks tired as hell.

“Well, that was a hell of a kick to the ego.”

They emerge from the bathroom, feet sinking into the plush carpet of the circular room as the steam wraps around them like a fog. Barry turns towards the exit, fully planning on...something. Doing something for sure. But the mousy looking teenager who has appeared on one of the cushy couches in the center of the room stops them in their tracks. The kid appears to be completely engrossed in some sort of murder documentary and completely oblivious to Barry’s presence. That’s when Barry notices the door right next to the bathroom has PETER scrawled in all caps on a whiteboard hanging on it. 

Lights like an arcade game fizz in Barry’s head until the lightbulb shatters into existence. So, this is Spider-Man, huh?

“You know, when you said you were Spider-Man, I was expecting someone...older. What are you, twelve?”

The poor kid jumps about a foot in the air before turning to Barry with a surprised grin.

“Hey! I didn’t know you were up. Was the T.V. too loud?”

“No, I was up before, no worries.”

Barry rambles towards the couch, feet shuffling nervously. Peter scooches over with zero hesitation, offering them a bag of cheese puffs. 

“Do you want to watch? It’s the Ted Bundy Tapes. We can watch something else if you want, I don’t mind.”

Barry cocks their head at Peter, confusion contorting their face.

“Why are you being so nice to me, twelve year old spider-dude?”

“Okay, first of all, I’m seventeen. Second of all, I’m being nice because...well, you’ve been through a lot. And you seem really cool, so why not be nice?”  
“You’re not scared of me?” He’s a fucking idiot if he’s not.

“No? I mean, I was a little intimidated at first because of the whole-”

“Murder monster thing,”

“Yeah, that. But I’m not scared. You’re just another person who H.Y.D.R.A. hurt and you’re trying to just move on from that. And I figured you’d probably need a friend anyway, so here I am! I’m kind of on house arrest anyway, there was this whole thing where this bad guy who was pretending to be a good guy accused me of murder after-”

Barry nods and “mmhmm”s in all of the right places as Peter tells them about his pretty fucked up last few months, but their mind wanders into a glowing, happy place where they think about the fact that they have a friend. A seventeen year old spider kid who can’t seem to catch a break but a friend nonetheless. Barry feels their chest tightening at the thought of this “Mysterio” ever laying a fucking hand on this kid and...oh no. Is this what it feels like to be a parent? Jesus Christ. 

They watch the rest of the documentary and chat the whole while, more Peter than Barry, honestly, but they don’t mind. He’s a fucking genius but also says the most dumb out of pocket shit, and it’s honestly a fun experience. When the credits start to roll, a red headed woman in black tee shirt and maroon hoodie glides into the room from the exit doorway, stopping in her tracks when she sees Barry. Barry tucks themself as far into their corner of the couch as they can, cheeks turning red beneath her piercing gaze. She was terrifyingly hot. 

“Hey, Wanda,” Peter says cheerily. “Is Doctor Strange here too?”

Wanda smiles at Peter before darting her eyes over to Barry. “Hi, Peter. Yes, he’s talking to Sam and Bucky now. And you must be Barry.”

She extends her hand, smiling kindly at Barry. They take her hand so as not to burst into tears at how welcome and cared for this woman’s smile makes them feel.

“Yeah, that’s me. And you’re Wanda...Maximoff, right?”

Sokovia. Lagos. Westfield. Yeah, Barry had heard of her. They hadn’t heard that she was a ray of literal sunshine, though.

“Yeah, that’s me. Are you still wearing that...bloody hospital gown?”

“Oh, um…” Barry’s cheeks glow even brighter with embarrassment. “I didn’t just want to wear the bathrobe so...yes?”

“Oh, dear, well, you better come with me. I’ll get you something more comfortable and less covered in...you know.”

Wanda takes Barry by the hand and leads them, which could only be Wanda’s room. The inside is covered in photographs and drawings, and there’s knick-knacks scattered everywhere. A photograph of a man and two boys sits on the bedside table next to her unmade bed. In the corner, near the bookcase, sits a record player, slowly crooning about love lost. Wanda pushes Barry down gently on the edge of the bed and flies over to her closet. Barry sits there, feeling more and more comfortable with every passing second.

“So, how many of you live here? And where is here, exactly?”

“Didn’t Peter tell you anything?”

“No, we were watching a...murder documentary.”

“It’s become his new special interest. He’s gone through almost all of the ones on Netflix, how, I’ll never know. But to answer your questions, six seven people live here. In this ‘pod’, you have Peter, myself, my husband Vision and my two children.”

Spider-dude, witch lady, robot husband, and imaginary kids. Got it.

“And in the other “pod” is where Sam and Buck live. And of course, there’s training rooms, a library, a pool, and a bunch of other fun places. As for the “where” we’re on the outskirts of New York, in one of Howard Stark’s old facilities. How much of that made sense to you?”

“Most of it, I think.”

“Well, good. Feel free to ask any more questions. Here, I think these will be comfortable enough. Are they okay?”

A plain grey sweatshirt and sweatpants. Black running shoes. Barry had never seen anything better. 

“They’re perfect. Thank you.”

When Barry comes back out of the bathroom, comfy, blood free clothes and all, Wanda and Peter are sitting on the couch, laughing as two young boys zoom around the room. One at the speed of sound and the other hanging on for dear life, shrieking all the way. Vision stands in the doorway of the exit, looking at them all with fondness plainly written on his face. He looks up at Barry and gives them a nod with a small, awkward smile. He knows what it’s like to be given another chance at life. 

Barry watches and feels the tension leech out of their body slowly. This could be their life, maybe. They could have friends, a family of sorts, a home. They feel hope building in their chest and are too tired to tamper it down, to hinder them self with doubt. So, they stand and watch, and laugh, and hope.

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the beginning! I really don't know exactly where this fic is gonna go, it's mostly just for my enjoyment but I hope you like it!


End file.
